In response to: "What is the one thing you consistently spill on yourself?"
Water. All the time. I always have a glass full of water or a water bottle with me, and I spill it ALL THE TIME. I have a 'drinking problem' like that one guy in the movie Airplane...haha.

Memories of my first day of school ever (kindergarten) do not exist. However, my first day of college is rather more memorable.

It was a sunny, boiling hot August day. My dorm did not have air conditioning, and I was not adjusting well. My first class of the day was chemistry. My roommate, who I barely knew at the time, was in the same class, but she was not in the dorm room when it was time to leave for class, so I had to set off alone.
Not knowing anyone in the class, I sat by myself in the balcony section of the lecture hall and waited for class to start. The lecture hall filled up, and several Indian guys sat down next to me. Being unsocial, I did not bother to look up, and focused on the lecture that was beginning. The lecture was one of those general, introductory background informational summaries that professors typically begin the semester with. I remember sitting through the whole lecture, wondering if I were supposed to be taking notes. Nothing seemed relevant, or worth remembering for an exam. Was all of college going to be like this? [Answer: Well, not all of college. More like 50%.]
As soon as class ended, the guy next to me introduced himself as "Sid". As we all filed out of the lecture hall, he asked my name, and continued talking to me.
"What did you think of the lecture?"
"Are you going to lunch now?"
"I don't know where any of the dining halls are...could you show me where one is?"
"Yeah, that class seems like it is going to be pretty hard, you will have to help me study."
"So, what kind of music do you like?"
"Can I eat lunch with you?"
"Do you like to drink [alcohol]?"
"Oh, well that's actually nice that you're not a partier."
"Can I have your phone number?"
"What's your major?"
"What's your next class?"
"Oh, I have that class too, do you want to hang out until then? Do you like video games?"
"Oh, well maybe this evening instead? I live over in---."
"Maybe some other time, then. Do you like to shop? All girls like to shop."
"We could go to the mall this weekend!"
"Where do you live?"
"What do you want to do now?"
"Will you marry me, move to India, and have my Indian babies?"

Ok...he didn't actually ask that last question. But I'm pretty sure he was heading in that direction. He probably would have waited at least until that weekend to ask me during our shopping trip.

At this point, I finally managed to escape, by saying that I already had plans to meet with a friend, so I had to leave. This was only half a lie. I had tentative plans to meet a friend, but we hadn't picked a time yet. As soon as I managed to get away and power walked a block or so and was calling my friend to tell her I was coming over NOW, I heard someone calling my name. I tried to ignore him, but it didn't work. Turns out he supposedly needed me to walk him back to where he lived. I just stopped and pointed in the general direction of where he needed to go, and headed off in the opposite direction.
Confession: I was too dumb and naive to not give him my phone number. I was also too slow-thinking to give him a fake number. I was one sheltered, stupid freshman. However, I fortunately was not so naive as to ignore the warning signs by the time he was suggesting that we hang out until our next class. I started evading questions, and did not tell him where I lived. I just gave the general answer "Oh, in the dorms". The college we were at is pretty large, so there are multiple dorms spread out over campus, so this was not a very helpful answer at all.
I escaped, jumpy and uneasy, and headed to my friend's. She was in the same major as me and a year older, so I hadn't seen her for about a year since she had gone off to college. Catching up with her, and telling her my crazy tale made me feel a lot better. (Getting away from Sid was also pretty therapeutic.) I stayed there until I had to leave for my next class. I was terrified of running into Sid, so I arrived last minute, and sat by a bunch of other people. Darn red hair, I didn't want it to give me away. I'm much too easily spotted in a crowd. Luckily, I did not see him.
When I got back to my dorm afterwards, I had just gotten inside when my phone rang. I answered. Oh yeah, it was Sid. If I had known it was him, I wouldn't have answered, but you see, I had not asked for his phone number in return when I had given him mine. He asked some question about class. Some question that reeeally did not need an answer. I said, "uh, no...I don't think so." And hung up, as I got into the elevator. He called back. I didn't answer. He called back again. I decided I would answer this one last time, and never again.
He said, "Oh, are you busy?".
"YES." Click.
Luckily he did not call back again that day. For the first (and only) time in my life, I called my parents, feeling like I was about to have a panic attack or cry. They seemed concerned, and my dad started talking about calling the campus police if necessary, and carrying Mace. That actually calmed me down, because I was thinking, "Ok, this situation is not fun, but I don't think it is THAT bad...". After my phone call, my roommate came into the room, so I told her about my stalker. She didn't know me yet, so she thought I was just one of those girls who over exaggerate and think every guy is after her and interested in her. [She soon realized that I was the OPPOSITE of that girl.] I had dinner in a different dining hall with some people I had known a little in high school, who were also a year older than me. I felt better about life again.
That evening I just sat in my dorm room relaxing and reading and trying to stay cool before going to bed at a normal time.

Nope, the day doesn't end there.

I woke up at 3am. I spent the next 3 hours throwing up. I'm pretty sure that I was dehydrated and over-heated, since I was not used to spending the majority of my day in 80-90 degree heat, and walking long distances in the sun, and I really had not drank that much water. Unfortunately, my RA who found me and took care of me a little, just assumed that I was homesick, and overly worried about my stalker.
Look, if I had been so nervous as to make myself sick, I would not have fallen asleep. By the time I had gone to bed, I was feeling pretty happy and secure again. So now my RA thought I was a pathetic homesick, terrified girl. Great.

So that was my first day. I had looked forward to college for years, and my first 24 hours was HORRIBLE. (Aside from catching up with old friends.) Fortunately, things improved, and I only had one other incident with a different guy literally pursuing me across campus. (Long story. It involves trading arms with people in Columbia. I'm dead serious. I will save it for another post.) BUT COLLEGE GOT MUCH BETTER AFTER THAT.

Oh. I did not see Sid for about a month and a half. I have to mention that he only knew my first name, what college I went to (a very large one, at that), and what I looked like. Then, one day after class I logged in to Facebook...and I had a friend request AND a message from him:

Plinky: "Do you have a favourite quote that you return to again and again? If so, what is it, and why does it move you?"

The great Charlie Chaplin is said to have said, "A day without laughter is a day wasted." I concur.

I love to laugh, but I cannot stand giggling. Giggling is a girly, childish form of laughter. No, I like true, unhindered laughing. Now, that is not to say that I have a nice laugh; quite the opposite! My laugh, when I really get carried away, sounds exactly like a zebra. [If you are curious, it sounds like this video, starting at the 17 second mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPmlh_ncsko ]

Now, I am not completely selfish. Despite being a fairly quiet (NOT shy) person, I love to make other people laugh. Generally, my only significant contributions to a conversation are intended to make people laugh. Unfortunately, a good deal of my humour is of a teasing or sarcastic nature. This does not work so well with people who do not know me well. They, understandably, do not realize that the amount of teasing is indirectly proportional to the amount that I like the person.

It's actually more of a statement: "Let's go around the room and say your name and state one interesting thing about you."

I wish people would not assume that there is anything interesting about me. I'm not saying that I'm the most boring person ever...but only because THAT would be interesting itself.

The second that someone puts me on the spot, I suddenly cannot think of anything I have ever done, interesting or not. Have I spent the last 20+ years sitting staring at a wall, simply existing? No, but in those few panicked seconds, you could have fooled me.

What makes the situation even worse, is that the 12 people in a row before me mention their travels through the Ecuadorian jungle, their term in public office, their singlehanded rescue of a elderly stroke patient and their kitten using only a fruit roll-up, and other equally exotic and amazing deeds.

In the end, I settle for saying something that will [hopefully] make people laugh. They usually do.

Plinky: "Describe your ideal job - where would you work? What would you do?"

While the fast-paced world of retail pharmacy is perfect for my love of efficiency and keeping busy, it can tend to be a lot of busy work that does not utilize the clinical knowledge learned from 6 years of pharmacy school. On the other hand, I would love to spend more time helping patients pick out over-the-counter medicines, administer vaccinations, and conduct Medication Therapy Management (MTM) interviews even though I would miss the fast pace behind the pharmacy counter.

Taking all this into account, my ideal job would be to combine these two facets of pharmacy into one. I would want a job where I could alternate between these two aspects of the job. I think the best place to do this would be at Walgreens with Minute Clinics. The new set-up for Walgreens pharmacies are already bringing the pharmacist out from behind the counter and involving them in more and more immunizations and MTMs. If a pharmacist could be designated to focus solely on OTC suggestions, MTMs, and immunizations, another pharmacist could focus on incoming phone calls, called-in prescriptions, checking filled prescriptions, and other currently typical duties.

....The bad news is...this job does not exist. Yet. Hopefully it will within a few years--even if I have to make it exist.

I was probably two or two and a half years old. My dad and I were the only two in the apartment. He stepped out to take the trash out to the dumpster that was just downstairs.

All of a sudden, I had the best idea ever. What if I locked the door? Wouldn't that be funny? So I did.

A moment or two later, my dad came back and tried to open the door and failed. He knocked on the door and called to me to open the door. I, being a fairly obliging toddler, reached up to the doorknob to unlock it.

My hand froze just before I touched the lock, because another, less funny and more terrifying, thought had occurred to me. My dad didn't sound to happy...and if I unlocked the door....he could come inside where I was. That didn't seem like a good idea, so I snatched my hand down and ran down the hall and around the corner. I stood tentatively peeking around the corner at the door at the end of the hall with my dad's [now slightly panicked] voice coming from behind it.
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Now, that's where my memory stops. I know from hearing the story multiple times later in life that he was able to get ahold of someone who had another key and was able to let him in the apartment.

Plinky makes it easy for you to create inspired content. Every day we provide a prompt (i.e. a question or challenge) and you answer. We make it simple to add rich media and share your answers on Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Plinky was originally created by Thing Labs, was acquired by Automattic in 2010 and shutdown on September 1st, 2014.